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Scottish NHS has debt of £100m

THE Scottish National Health Service has plunged more than £100m into debt, it has emerged. Four health boards have warned ministers that they have been unable to fund pay deals, rising drug bills and services from existing budgets.

They are considering making cuts and selling off land to balance their books, a strategy which the Scottish executive has deemed unacceptable.

Andy Kerr, the health minister, admitted last week that Argyll and Clyde health board has projected an overspend of £72.5m for the current year. The other boards reporting overspends are Grampian (£8.1m), Lanarkshire (£20m), and the Western Isles (£738,000).

The disclosure — which exposes the deepening financial crisis in the Scottish NHS — will cause embarrassment to the executive, given that health spending in Scotland is among the highest in Europe.

Much of the £9 billion spent each year on the NHS in Scotland has been swallowed up by a 20% pay